On the
Unknown Dangers
by FireFlii
(T. Becker)
She
measured approximately five feet long from the tip of her nose
to the tip of her tail. Her name was Indigo and her variegating
green color that seemed to iridescently shimmer made her a wonder
to gaze upon. She was my stepson's pet common green Iguana and
a beloved part of his family. Jamie had owned her for five years
and as such, Indigo was very tame and had a definite personality.
Little did we know then that this beautiful and demonstrative
creature was harboring a deadly bacteria that would cause the
death of Jamie and Teresa's first born son.
Gaige Alan was born on September 9, 1995, as healthy and beautiful
as we could have wished. He was a joy to his parents, many grandparents,
aunts and uncles from the very first time we saw him. He had
dark piercing baby eyes that seemed to be more aware of everything
around them than most newborns. Maybe this little angel knew
he was to be with us to bless and brighten our lives for only
a few short weeks and so was more alert to all around him so
he could take with him the memories of those whom showered him
with so much love.
Three weeks after Gaige was born we got a call from the hospital.
His parents needed us. At that point we didn't know it but he
had died in the emergency room as the doctors had tried to stabilize
him enough to get him to a pediatric hospital. All the doctors
knew at that time was that he had suffered a massive and complete
system failure. I had seen and held him less than 36 hours before
and he had seemed fine. What could possibly cause a child to
fail so completely in such a short time?
The next few weeks as we tried to help his shattered parents
work through their immense grief, we also tried to discover why
Gaige had been taken from us. The same day he was taken from
his loving family by this devastating illness, my husband and
I had spoken to Gaige's doctor and asked him if the Iguana could
have had something to do with Gaige's death. The doctor assured
us that he didn't believe that Indigo had anything to do with
the illness.
It took six weeks to get the completed autopsy report. The diagnosis
for cause of death was septicemia (blood poisoning) caused by
the Salmonella, Poona type, bacterium. My husband and I realized
immediately that Gaige had contracted the disease from the Iguana.
But we had to prove it, especially to Gaige's father, who vehemently
denied that this was possible. However my husband and I knew
if Indigo carried the bacteria in her intestines someone else,
child or adult, could contract the same disease from her and
possibly suffer the same fate as the baby. No one seemed much
inclined to have the Iguana tested, including the doctor, so
we took it upon ourselves to deliver a stool sample from Indigo
to the Purdue University Lab to be tested. All this time my stepson
was collecting information about iguanas to prove that Indigo
had not been responsible. In all the information and books he
collected there were only vague and obscure references in some
of them to the fact that reptiles could possibly carry dangerous
bacteria in their intestinal systems and the only precaution
noted was to wash after handling them. No real warnings or recommendations
were to be found in any of the books or articles Jamie found.
It took the Purdue lab four more weeks to deliver the test results
on the Iguana. The tests were definitive. The green Iguana was
definitely a heavy carrier of the Salmonella Poona bacteria.
How devastating it was and still is to this family to realize
that our little one's death could have been prevented. The grief
we all felt was almost as overwhelming as immediately after his
death, especially for Jamie, who quickly came to realize his
beloved pet was the cause of Gaige's untimely demise.
At this point, after the initial shock of the positive test results
had worn away, Gaige's mother, Teresa, and I began our research
into how to prevent this from happening to any other family.
We wondered how many other babies and small children had contracted
this deadly disease from a family pet and nobody had ever known
why they had gotten sick. We knew it was possible that there
were many cases like Gaige's that had been missed because if
we hadn't taken it upon ourselves to have Indigo tested for Salmonella,
we would never have known where Gaige had contracted the disease
that had killed him.
We discovered that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
had published many references to Iguana and Lizard-associated
salmonellosis in the yearly published MMWR. In 1994 and 1995,
health departments in 13 states reported unusual strains of salmonella
bacteria contracted by humans that were traced back to reptiles.
We have also noted the following points:
A
high proportion of reptiles are asmptomatic carriers of Salmonella
(the CDC has done recent studies (1997-8) that are available
at their website that shows 100%
of imported green iguanas are carriers of Salmonella and other
harmful bacteria)
Fecal
carriage rates can be more than 90%
Attempts
to eliminate Salmonella in reptiles with antibiotics is unsuccessful
Importation
of green iguanas is on a very steep increase because of their
availability and lost cost (CDC MMWR 41; Kaplan)
What
really frightened us about these facts is the increase in the
importation and sale of common green iguanas over the past few
years. Information obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
indicates that the number of imported iguanas grew from 27,806
in 1986 to over one million in 1995, even though tests performed
recently by the CDC shows that 100% of the common green iguanas
imported into the US from South America are infected with varying
strains of Salmonella.
Gaige had no direct contact with Indigo and because she was kept
in the cage all the time after his birth, his swift contraction
of the Salmonella bacteria was even more ominous to us. His mother
never handled Indigo and his father had always washed after handling
her. We realized too late that the chance of a child getting
Salmonella poisoning with an iguana present in the household
is a real possibility that must be considered.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has increased
studies into the rates of infection from reptiles including going
back over unexplained Salmonella infections in babies and young
children for the past few years as a direct result of Gaige's
death. Jamie and Teresa also appeared on The Oprah Show and some
other informational programs, including CNN's Earth Matters to
warn people of the danger. David Mattingly of Earth Matters did
intensive, on-site studies of the huge iguana farms in South
America and the type of information retailers were supplying
to iguana purchasers in order to obtain facts for his show. The
results of these studies were frightening. Out of a total of
100 iguana retailers (mostly pet stores) Earth Matter's staff
contacted, only one retailer offered any information about Salmonella
infection in green iguanas (phone conversation with David Mattingly
by author, Feburary 1997). The CDC, as a result of the studies
made by their researchers, began last year in prompting veterinarians
and retailers of reptiles to warn consumers of the very real
dangers (Armour, 1996).
Teresa and I are presently pursuing legislative action to force
retailers to comply with the CDC recommendations. Our efforts
to have iguana retailers voluntarily comply to these recommendations
have gone mostly unnoticed as you can still walk into most pet
stores, buy an iguana for your child and never be told that the
iguana is probably carrying a bacteria that can be deadly to
children under two and people with suppressed immune systems.
We will keep writing our congressmen and legislative bodies as
long as necessary to make a change in this policy. We are also
enlisting the help of other families who have had children become
ill from contact with reptiles with some success. E-mail and
the Web are excellent tools for this and we make extensive use
of them.
Through the research we have conducted and the contacts that
we had made, including in the Herpetological community, we have
discovered that most of the Herpetologists (Reptile Specialists)
and people who really care for reptiles would also like to see
the sale of green iguanas regulated to a certain extent. Most
ordinary people who purchase these reptiles, especially for their
children, end up with a dead iguana and a heartbroken child after
just a few weeks because green iguanas are not as easy to raise
and care for as they seem to be. The ones that do live grow very
large (up to 5 feet long) quickly and are not really suitable
pets for children anyway. Thus, most are destroyed or given to
someone else with some experience in large reptiles so they can
be cared for properly (Kaplan).
Through the efforts of Gaige's mother and myself, we feel we
have at the very least made his death not quite as meaningless
and tragic as it could have otherwise been. If we can use what
we have learned from this to save one other child, and we believe
we have, it will be Gaige's legacy. We feel that we have reached
others and will continue to do so and hopefully save other lives
through our efforts. One definite benefit of our quest to inform
others of this danger is that it has helped Jamie, Teresa, and
the rest of us involved work through the immense and overwhelming
grief of losing a precious child before we even got a chance
to know him.
Gaige, dear one, this effort is for you from your loving mother
and grandma.
Please use the above graphic to link back to this
page at this URL - http://fireflii.8m.com/iguana/index.html
- and LET OTHERS KNOW the danger they place their children in
if they also have an iguana in their household. Please help prevent
this tragedy from being repeated! |